


Peter Parker: An Origin Story

by MamaBear7319



Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Irondad, Someone Is After Peter, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26949232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaBear7319/pseuds/MamaBear7319
Summary: Peter’s Spidey sense has been going off non-stop.  He thinks it might just be malfunctioning, Tony thinks someone’s after him.
Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934734
Comments: 39
Kudos: 23





	1. Malfunctioning Spidey Sense

Peter flipped off a building and flung a web, catching the side of another building on his descent. He made his way down the avenue and landed on the top of a moderately tall building. Usually swinging through the city made him feel good. It wasn't something easily explained, call it a release of endorphins or a sense of freedom, either way he loved the feeling. Right now, even swinging wasn't making him feel better. He crouched on the edge and looked around. His Spidey sense had been going off almost nonstop all day. He was dreading the grade he was going to end up with on his English Lit test. It had actually been going off at random times for the past week but today it was almost nonstop. It was enough that he was starting to get a headache. 

Deciding that heading home was a better option he plotted a course and headed for the nearest train. He could ride the roof and not have to actually swing across the bridge to get home.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey kid!" Tony glanced up as Peter walked into the lab. "You're home earlier than normal."

Peter crossed over to where Tony was. He had stopped upstairs and changed out of his suit. "Bad day. Just a heads up, I may have failed my English Lit test."

"Bad day as in you got in a fight with MJ?" Tony wasn't overly concerned about English Lit, he was more concerned about the bad day.

"No, MJ and I are fine. My Spidey sense has been weird all day."

"Weird how?" Tony glanced back down at the mini arc reactor he couldn't let go of at the moment. Neither one of them needed an explosion to deal with right now. Getting it to the point where he could set it down he glanced up at Peter.

"It's going off all the time." Peter leaned over the worktable watching Tony work on Natasha's electroshock gauntlets. He reached over and flipped open the door covering the old mini arc reactor so Tony could reach it without having to let go of the probe he had picked up.

"But it's still working like it normally does, right?" Tony frowned as he maneuvered the old arc reactor out of the housing.

"Yeah. No issues last night, except it was constantly on. Ramped up when I needed it but other than that it's just like this uneasy feeling like I need to be on guard. The only time it's not going off is here." Peter sat down in the chair next to the table and stretched out his legs.

Tony put the probe down and looked at Peter. The fact that his Spidey sense was going off was troubling. Peter had issues with it before but Tony thought it was related more to learning to trust it and not that it was acting up. This seemed different. "Ok, have Karen send FRIDAY your suit feeds and let her scour them. Maybe she can find something to explain it."

"It's not just when I'm in the suit. It's at school, the subway. All the time."

"It goes off when you're out of the suit?" Tony realized he should been paying closer attention. Peter had mentioned that it was bothering him all day but he hadn't realized he meant that it was triggering outside of the suit. That piece of information was even more disturbing. Tony sat down on a stool, deep in thought. "But not here?"

Peter shook his head. "This is the only place it's not going off."

"That's because this place is more secure than just about any other location in the world. If it's not going off here it's because the spider knows you're safe. So, that should rule out some kind of cataclysmic event. Which means someone is after you. Not just Spider-Man, but you." Tony's worry ratcheted up a notch. Someone knew Peter's identity. "Ok, you're grounded."

"What? No! MJ and I are going to the movies tonight."

"Movie night with the Avengers. One of us is driving you to and from school too. And, if you go out as Spider-Man, one of us is going with you." Tony stood up and started pacing, working through other security measures he'd need to put into place.

"That's not fair! This is exactly why I don't tell you things. You overreact." Peter was out of his chair as well.

"Pete, it was bad enough for you to say something which means it's probably even worse. If it's going off both in and out of the suit it means someone knows that you...Peter Parker... are Spider-Man. Someone the spider considers to be a threat."

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter sat on the couch with his arms crossed. MJ had even abandoned him to his bad mood. She was currently talking to Natasha about whatever in the kitchen. He was supposed to be in a dark movie theater, watching a movie with MJ. Not in his living room with a large number of Avengers, MJ, Pepper, and Tony. Bucky dropped on the couch next to him. "I'm driving you to school Monday."

Peter turned and glared at him. "I am capable of getting to school by myself."

"There's a schedule. It's posted on the refrigerator downstairs." Bucky was starting to feel bad for the kid. He could see the muscles in Peter's jaw tightening. "We can stop and get donuts."

"You know this is crazy, right?" Peter looked down and realized the coke can he had been holding was completely flattened in the middle.

"Tony is ridiculously overprotective when it comes to you but in this case there's no reason not to take extra precautions. If it turns out that your Spidey sense is just malfunctioning you can remind him of this every time he tries to go overboard. If not, " Bucky shrugged, "at least you'll have backup."

"Is there a schedule for who gets to go with me if I go out as Spider-Man?" Peter couldn't keep the frustration out of his voice.

"Actually, we suggested to Tony that we do some training as a team this weekend. He seemed to think it might be a good idea. I think partially because he doesn't want to try to keep you inside and really the only people who can keep up with you are Rhodey and Sam. Well, besides Tony, but he seemed to think you're too mad at him to let him go out with you." Bucky took a sip of his beer and glanced sideways at Peter.

"I'm not mad at him." Peter grumbled. He was frustrated. There was a difference. Getting mad at Tony tended to burn out quickly. He glanced over at the kitchen that now included Pepper and Tony. "I'm just not talking to him right now."


	2. Skrulls?

After the third day of Avengers driving him to school Peter was in such a bad mood he seriously thought about skipping school. He could give his watch to Ned and let him take it from class to class, but knowing Tony he'd look past the fact that his tracker was in school and actually look at where he was within the school. And since he and Ned didn't have all of their classes together it really wasn't an option. 

The uneasy feeling was still there. Natasha had quizzed him all the way to school about when his spidey sense usually went off. She thought he was being watched but couldn't find anything on Karen's feeds or see anything herself...which drove her nuts. On the plus side Sam was going to meet him on the roof of a nearby building and let him patrol and swing home after school. He had tried patrolling with Rhodey Monday night with disastrous results. He was hoping Sam was a little easier to work with.  
XXXXXXXXXX

Sam perched on top of one of the higher buildings in Queens. "I cannot believe you find this fun." He watched Spider-Man swing down a side street. The deal was Peter couldn't get more than two blocks ahead of him. He had already watched the kid stop an attempted burglary and a purse snatching. "There is something seriously wrong with you." Peter had now switched to free falling from buildings and swinging to lower rooftops.

"You should try it sometime. You may actually like it." Peter waited for Sam to land next to him.

"Nah, my wings don't work the same way." He watched Peter scan the streets. At least it seemed like he was maybe blowing off some steam. He wasn't quite as grumpy as he had been. He saw Peter tilt his head to look at something so he redirected his eyes to locate what had caught the kids attention. "Ok, your eyesight is definitely better than mine. What did you see."

Peter shook his head. "I don't know. I thought I saw something in the alley, then my Spidey sense ramped up." Peter flung his wrist out, shooting a web to catch the edge of the roof next to them and swung off the roof.

"Kid! Wait!" Sam still had no idea what Peter had seen or even which alley he had seen it in so he had to simply follow him.

Peter landed in the mouth of the alley and peered into the opening. Like many alleys in Queens the height of the buildings made it somewhat dark and it was cluttered with dumpsters and debris from the businesses in the adjoining buildings.

Sam landed behind him and folded his wings so he could move in the confined area. "What did you see?"

Peter gazed around. "Karen, scan for Skrull signatures."

"Negative for Skrull energy signature."

Peter kept peering into the shadows of the alley. His Spidey sense was completely ramped up, almost to a painful level. He finally spotted movement towards the back corner. Setting both web shooters to the last taser setting he had used on the Skrulls, he walked toward the back. He heard Sam curse behind him but knew he was staying back to allow for more maneuverability if something did happen. Last thing they needed was for both of them to be boxed in. Peter got within five feet of the dumpster his quarry was hiding behind. Karen had already picked up the heat signature. "Why are you following me?"

Peter wasn't sure what he expected but a cackle coming from behind the dumpster wasn't it. Of course he had never heard the Skrulls speak either.

Sam definitely didn't know what to expect so when a creature rose from behind the dumpster every weapon he had came out.

Peter fired two webs simultaneously expecting to hit the creature. Instead, what he and Sam would later identify as a smoke bomb was tossed in front of him temporarily obscuring his vision. When the smoke cleared, the creature was gone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony, Natasha, and Steve reviewed their footage for what seemed like the tenth time. While Tony and Peter were the only two that had seen the Skrulls in person, Natasha and Steve had reviewed the original footage multiple times after the initial scuffle in Central Park with the Kree. Peter stood in the back with Sam and Bucky. Peter wasn't sure what Tony expected to see on the tenth time that he didn't see on the first nine. Karen had only picked up a brief image of the creature. 

After the footage finished, Tony glanced over his shoulder at Peter and Sam. "Thoughts?"

Sam put his hands up and shook his head. He didn't have the foggiest idea what to think. Aliens were a little outside his expertise.

Peter had his arms crossed. "It makes zero sense that they would be targeting me. The ones from before weren't all that interested in me. Plus, this one seemed a little different."

Steve looked back at the screen and pulled up a still from Peter's feed from the original battle. "Still green. They both have pointed ears. The one from today has slightly bigger ears." He pointed against the one from earlier in the day.

"That doesn't explain what they're after." Peter walked forward and looked at the screens. Both figures displayed looked very much like aliens. But there was something about the one from today that seemed off. "And, Karen never picked up any of the same signatures we had seen earlier." He turned and looked at Tony, "Plus, why wouldn't they be camouflaged as a human? Why show yourself?"

Tony looked at Peter. Honestly, he was just happy the kid was talking to him again. He had been thinking that maybe he had overreacted, but then this happened. Skrulls were pretty far down on his list of things that would have been targeting Peter. And the list was pretty damn long. "Good points but I don't think anyone here has the answers." He turned and looked at Natasha.

"I'll call Fury." Natasha had anticipated Tony's next comment. Out of everyone on the planet, Fury was the only one who seemed to know anything about the Skrulls.

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter closed the refrigerator door knowing that Tony had planted himself in one of the kitchen stools. He had been able to avoid him most of the week. Now that he was sitting in front of him, Peter knew he had to break the silent treatment he had been giving Tony. "I still think you overreacted."

Tony shrugged. "Maybe, but if it means that you don't get hurt I can deal with you being mad at me for a couple days."

"I wasn't mad. I'm frustrated. There's a difference." Peter hopped up on the counter-top and faced Tony. "This whole thing is just weird."

"Agreed. I think we're missing a huge piece of what's going on. So please, stop fighting me on making sure you're protected."

Peter let out a tiny growl. "Fine. Who's my babysitter tomorrow?"

"Natasha." Tony smirked at Peter's frown.

"I was hoping it would be Bucky. He stops for donuts."


	3. The Return

Peter grudgingly put up with babysitters to and from school. He was pretty sure that when Bucky or Natasha drove him they sat in front of his school. All. Day. Long. They were probably the only two on the team patient enough to do it.

Patrolling in the afternoons or even at night had come to a roaring halt. It wasn't that Sam and Tony wouldn't go with him. Rhodey was the only one who flat out refused after the first time. It's just that it wasn't something that worked great as a duo, especially when one of the team carried a ridiculous amount of fire power. Tony had gone out with Peter one time and one time only. When Iron Man lands in front of a purse snatcher the whole thing tends to get blown out of proportion and ends up on the evening news. From that point on, Peter refused to go out with anyone. So, the team was left trying to distract him because on top of all it, his spidey sense was still going off anytime he was anywhere other than home.

Tony hadn't told May or Pepper what was going on. May had spent the last month in Germany for surgery and follow up treatment. Right after Peter had told Tony there was a problem, Pepper had headed to the west coast and then Hong Kong preparing for her impending leave of absence. Tony and Pepper had agreed, after multiple weeks of negotiating, that when Pepper hit the third trimester she was going to stay close to home. As good of a negotiator as Pepper was, Tony was that much more overprotective. Peter had enjoyed sitting back and watching someone other than him argue with Tony about his tendency to go overboard.

Both were due back this afternoon so Tony was trying to figure out how to explain why Peter was acting like a caged animal without worrying either of them. He was opting to play it off as just precautions until they could figure it out and Peter was all for downplaying what was going on. It was nice to not be at odds with each other.

XXXXXXXXXX

Pepper was the first one back and it took all of five minutes for her to realize something was wrong. She patiently listened to Tony rattle off all of the security measures he had put into place, Peter nodding in agreement that of course he was complying with all of Tony's added security and assuring her that he wouldn't dream of leaving the building without at least one Avenger with him.

"Maybe we should pull him out of school until this settled down."

Peter looked at Tony, his eyes pleading for him to not agree with Pepper.

"Pep, he's going stir crazy here already. He's safe at school. There's always someone nearby so if he does have any problems we can be there in less than a minute." Tony smiled at the look of relief on Peter's face.

Pepper looked between the two. She didn't like it but she also knew Peter didn't do well being confined. "Ok. But I think maybe two of you need to stick close to the school. Think you can work it out?"

Tony nodded his agreement. Peter simply sighed, resigned to the fact that if this didn't get figured out soon, there would eventually be Avengers sitting in class with him.

"Does May know yet? Aren't she and Happy due back this afternoon?" Pepper adjusted in her chair. She was only five months pregnant and was already incredibly uncomfortable. She couldn't imagine what another couple months were going to be like.

"They land in about an hour." Peter perked up. When he talked to May last night she sounded great and by all reports surgery went as planned. She was still having to use the braces to walk but she was getting more feeling back and more mobility. He couldn't wait to see her.

"May does not know." Tony added. "We didn't want to have her worry while she was so far away."

Pepper nodded. "Why don't we all have dinner up here tonight and we can catch up. You two can continue to reassure us that you're taking all of the proper precautions." She shifted a little again causing Tony to frown. "It's just your daughter kicking. She's worried about Peter too."

XXXXXXXXXX

Dinner was fine. May knew Tony had security handled. Peter caught sight of Happy talking to Tony afterwards and wondered if Happy wasn't going to end up sitting in the office at school. The whole thing was getting tiresome but he put a good face on it for May and Pepper. Neither one of them needed the added stress of worrying about him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony gave up working on his current project after he realized he had read the same line of code twelve times. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to handle the constant worry. He knew it was starting to get to Peter too. Part of him wanted the whole thing to come to a head. The other part of him wanted to disappear with Peter and Pepper. As much as he wanted it to end, he wasn't prepared for the next thing that cropped up. 

“Boss, Happy is requesting you to meet him in the conference room on the first floor.”

Tony frowned. “Did Happy say what the problem is?” Tony pulled up Peter’s tracker. Safe and sound in chemistry, the last class of the day. All vitals normal. Natasha and Steve were picking him up so he felt like one of them would have let him know if there was a problem.

“Sorry Boss. He just asked if you could join him.”

Tony sighed. It wasn’t like he was making any progress with the gamma detector. Pushing himself up he headed in the direction of the conference room. Pulling open the door the first thing he noticed was the look on Happy's face and the fact that he had his jacket intentionally unbuttoned, conveniently showing the shoulder holster. He then turned his attention to the other person in the room. He understood Happy’s posturing. Sitting at the table was a man he had assumed was dead. 

XXXXXXXXXX

Natasha and Steve were waiting for Peter after school. Natasha frowned at the depressed look on Peter's face. "So, your spidey sense goes off at school, right?"

"It's just like this dull buzz but never stops. Any other time it either starts as a buzz and then goes into full combat mode or it goes away." Peter shrugged. He couldn't figure out how to make it stop. It was just always on.

"Is there anywhere in your school that you haven't been since this started?"

Peter thought about it, "Well, there are some freshman and sophomore classrooms that I don't go into. I think there's a basement where all of the mechanical stuff is." He cycled through the last month. "Oh, I haven't had to go to the office for anything lately."

Steve chuckled. "Count that as a good thing." He glanced over at Natasha, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that if we're dealing with Skrulls we know they have the ability to shape shift. Maybe there's one impersonating a teacher or one of the office staff."

Peter leaned forward from the back seat. "That makes a lot of sense. Tony swept the school for any kind of surveillance equipment the first week. We weren't thinking Skrulls then." Peter paused and looked at Natasha. "But how does that do us any good. We don't have a great way of detecting them."

"Fury is working on it. He may have something in a couple days. If he does, I want to come in and check your school."

Peter sat back and sighed. As much as he wanted the buzz to stop at school he was not looking forward to Avengers sweeping his school for aliens in the middle of the day.

Steve glanced in the rear view mirror as he was pulling into the underground parking of the tower they were now calling home, "We won't let Tony come and we'll keep it completely under the radar. You won't even know we're there."

Peter doubted that but decided he would prefer for the constant buzz to stop. Getting out of the car he headed for the elevators. "FRIDAY, where's Tony?"

"1st floor conference rooms. Would you like me to take you there?"

Peter frowned. They had built out the first floor to give Pepper some office space close to home. He didn't think anyone was using it though. "Yes, please. Thanks FRIDAY"

Exiting the elevator, he headed down the hall towards the conference room. He pulled open the frosted glass door and his Spidey sense ramped as high as it had in the alley. His eyes immediately traveled to Tony like they always did, then moved to the stranger in the room. Except the face wasn't one he didn't recognize. It was a face he had seen before and never expected to see in person. A face he only remembered seeing in pictures. 

“Happy, keep our guest company.” Tony had moved the second Peter had walked into the room so he was already close to him when Peter’s eyes found his again. He hadn’t really believed the man sitting in the room was Richard Parker. There was a sliver of doubt that had been trying to rise to the surface telling him he just didn’t want to believe Peter’s father was alive. But one look at Peter confirmed his original thought. He recognized the tenseness in his face. The tenseness that came when his Spidey Sense ramped up. The tenseness that came when the spider knew there was immediate danger. He maneuvered Peter back through the door and into the hall.

"Tony, what the hell?" Peter tightened his fingers in Tony's shirt.

"If I were to guess, who ever is trying to get to you is getting impatient." Tony put both hands on Peter's shoulders to help ground him.

Peter glanced up at Tony. The panic he was feeling was starting to subside. "Tony, what if..."

"Pete, like everything else, we'll deal with it together. I have some ideas but I want you somewhere safe. Think you can wait for me in the lab?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony returned to the conference room once FRIDAY had confirmed Peter had made it to the lab. “Where’d he go Happy.” It came out as a snarl. He hadn’t expected the man to have left although the fact that he had confirmed his suspicion.

“He left. He made enough legal threats that it didn’t seem wise to forcibly keep him here.” Happy shook his head, second guessing his choice. “FRIDAY’s tracking.”

The worry that had been plaguing Tony since Peter had first told him there was a problem erupted. The credenza against the wall was the closest target. “Damn It!” Every paper, notebook, and device scattered to the floor as he took his frustration out by sweeping his hand across the surface. Placing both hands down he took a deep breath before turning to face Happy. “What did he say before I got here?”

Happy had seen Tony mad before. This wasn’t just mad. This was deadly. “I took May and Pepper to lunch at that new place at the end of the block. He approached us there.”

Tony leaned against the credenza. “What was his story?”

“Amnesia after the plane crash. Just recently got his memory back. Saw the article about you and Peter and wanted to come find him.” Happy picked up an envelope from the table. “I figure there’s no way it’s him but maybe you can prove it with this.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “That wasn’t an article, that was a tabloid piece of crap.” The article had centered around a picture of Tony and Peter after an Academic Decathlon Meet and was more speculation than fact. Tony took the envelope from Happy and looked inside. A single strand of hair. “You’re sure it’s his.”

Happy nodded. “Peter ok?”

Tony shook his head. “Peter isn’t going to be ok until all of this is over. How’s May?”

“A little freaked out. I sent her and Pepper upstairs when we got here.” 

“Ok. I’ll run this and make sure Peter’s ok. Check on Pepper and make sure May’s ok.” Tony pushed off from the credenza and left to find Peter.

XXXXXXXXXX

"FRIDAY, run a paternity test on the sample." Tony looked over at Peter and smiled. The kid looked nervous as hell. They both knew there was no way Richard Parker was alive and that the person that had presented himself as Peter's father was an impostor but there was still something about it that made the kid nervous.

"Paternity results on recent sample, Negative."

Tony heard Peter let out a sigh of relief. He was so focused on Peter that he stopped paying attention to FRIDAY.

"Paternity test results on original sample...".

Tony's eyes widened as he realized what FRIDAY had done. "FRIDAY, stop" but he didn't get the order out before FRIDAY finished her sentence.

"Positive."

Tony's face paled. He looked at the confusion on Peter's face and he knew their world was about to change.

"FRIDAY, explain." Peter knitted his brow in confusion and waited for FRIDAY to continue.

"Original paternity sample was a positive match to Peter Benjamin Parker's DNA adjusted to compensate for mutation."

FRIDAY's answer hadn't provided Peter with any more clarity. "FRIDAY, what was the original sample?"

Tony stared at the table in front of him. He already knew the answer. It was the only other sample in the system. He had never run it. Part of him hadn't wanted to know and he didn't think Peter was ready to know."

"Anthony Edward Stark"

Tony looked up at his kid. His kid that he considered to be his kid regardless of biology. Biology that had just surprised them both, although if Tony were honest, he had suspected for a while. The look on Peter's face almost crushed him.

Peter pushed back from the table, turned and walked out of the lab.


	4. Seventeen Years

"Pete...". Tony called out to an empty room as the lab door closed behind Peter. "Damn it." Tony muttered. He had no idea what to do. Going after Peter was probably not the correct course of action. If Peter wanted his help processing, he wouldn't have walked out. He also didn't want him doing something rash out of anger or confusion. "FRIDAY, let me know if Peter tries to leave the building."

He wasn't sure how long he stared at the lab table. His mind was frozen on the fact that Peter was very much his son. His biological son. Seventeen years ago he had been a mess. Seventeen years ago he definitely would have been traveling in the same circles as Richard and Mary Parker. Seventeen years. It was a long time. So many things he had missed out on, although he knew even seven or eight years ago he hadn't been capable of being the father Peter deserved. Hell, he wasn't sure if he could ever be the father Peter deserved. He thought he had been doing ok lately, acting in a parental role, but it all the sudden felt so much weightier. It was a weight he realized he wanted. It grounded him. Peter was his son. He pushed back from the table. His son that someone was targeting. Wallowing in self recrimination and doubt wasn't going to keep Peter safe.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Nat, I need you to find out if Fury has any DNA information on the Skrulls."

Natasha looked up from tablet she was studying while eating a sandwich. "Ok. Fury thinks he has something that can detect Skrulls. I'll get him to send whatever DNA date he has too." She looked at Tony's face. He could definitely be abrupt, especially if he was in the middle of working on something so the tone and the question didn't bother her. But there was a look in his eyes that she couldn't identify. "What's wrong?"

"You mean other than the fact that someone is targeting Peter?" Tony reached down and grabbed a blueberry off her plate. "Everything is peachy."

Natasha knew better but she also knew better than to push Tony.

"You haven't seen Peter, have you?"

Ah, so whatever was wrong had to do with Peter and not just the current threat. "Not since bringing him home." She watched Tony nod and walk back to the elevators. When the elevator doors closed she glanced up at the ceiling. "FRIDAY, has Peter left the building?"

"No, Agent Romanoff. Peter is currently on the roof."

Natasha frowned. Peter and Tony had gotten in a fight. She had realized shortly after starting to spend time with Peter that he always went high when he was brooding or thinking things through. Clint did the same thing. Clint said it gave him perspective. In Peter's case she thought it was probably more because it was quieter and not many people could or would follow him. "FRIDAY, let me know if Peter leaves the building."

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter heard Tony walk up behind him. He was actually surprised he hadn't sought him out earlier. Tony sat down on the ledge next to him but didn't say anything. Like he was content to wait on Peter. After what seemed like forever Peter broke the silence. "I'm sorry I walked out."

Tony shrugged. "It's a lot to process. And these last couple weeks haven't been easy."

Peter looked over at Tony. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it almost immediately. Staring back at the street below him he realized he had no idea what to say.

"The last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt. I never ran it myself because I knew neither one of us would feel good about either answer." He felt Peter stiffen next to him. "That's not what I mean. Think about it. If the answer was no, I'd feel let down. I've thought of you as my kid for a while now - regardless of DNA. I didn't need a paternity test to tell me that. But, you also know that I'd overthink the whole thing." Tony smiled in response to the small smile that appeared on Peter's face. "If the answer was yes, as happy as that would make me, I'd feel like I failed you because I wasn't there earlier." He let it sink in before continuing. "For you, I didn't want you second guessing anything about your life. Mary and Richard Parker, the real Richard Parker, loved you. Ben Parker loved you. May loves you."

Peter sucked in a breath. "I don't know what to do with this. I've been a Parker for 17 years. I never really knew my parents. I just have vague memories that are probably more from seeing pictures that May had. But everything I thought I knew is wrong."

"Not wrong. Peter, Richard and Mary Parker will always be your parents. Now, I just get to call you mine too." Tony watched Peter process and realized all of this was going to take time. Peter's life was just completely upended. Tony was just happy that he was talking to him.

Peter took another deep breath. "What made you think to run a paternity test anyway?" He looked over at Tony to gauge his response.

Tony held out a picture and waited for Peter to take it.

"I don't remember this being taken." Peter frowned at the picture.

"That's because it's not you. It's me. Roughly your age." Tony smiled when Peter looked over at him. "I was cleaning out one of the storage rooms and found a box of my dad's stuff. I found the picture when I was going through it. The resemblance is remarkable. It's when I first put my sample into the system. But I never ran it because I liked the way things were. I was already acting like your parent, the DNA didn't matter."

Peter smiled at Tony's comment about acting like a parent. Ever since the car accident their relationship had been completely different. They were close before. After the accident it's like Tony's parenting instincts kicked in. And then after Homecoming they ramped up even more. It was truly enjoyable to see the look on some classmates' faces when Tony Stark walked into their classroom for some parent event or when he showed up at the Academic Decathlon competitions. "I liked the way things were too. It's all going to change isn't it?"

"Maybe. I'm a little more concerned with what's going on right now. We can deal with whatever comes of this together. I just want to make sure we're ok." Tony paused, "We are ok, aren't we?"

Peter forced a smile. "We're ok. It'll take some time to get used to." He paused, "Who else knows?"

"FRIDAY. We can decide who to tell when, although I suggest bringing Pepper and May into the loop sooner rather than later."

Peter swung his legs over the side of the ledge he was sitting on and hopped down on the roof. "You know this still doesn't solve our original problem of proving that this guy is an impostor."

Tony stood up from the ledge. "I know. Natasha mentioned that she thought Fury had something that would detect Skrulls. She's going to get him to send over the DNA data he has. Hopefully he has a DNA indicator that we can use."

"Yeah, she wants to come to school when she gets whatever it is Director Fury is working on and scan for Skrulls. She thinks that's why my spidey sense is going off at school. That one of them is impersonating a teacher or someone in the office." Peter walked towards the door leading back inside with Tony walking next to him. If he could just focus on the problem at hand he could deal with the rest of it later.


	5. The Attack

Tony and Peter stared at the screen. The data Fury had provided had helped them analyze their visitors' DNA. They had identified an addition that had similarities to Skrull DNA but wasn't identical to the sample Fury had provided. Tony was incredibly curious where Fury had gotten not only Skrull DNA but also a normal person's DNA compared to the DNA of a Skrull shape shifted into that person. If Tony cared anything about genetics he could have spent hours studying the samples. What he cared about was proving that their visitor had been an impostor. "I think the addition to the strand proves that whoever our visitor was, he's not human." Tony glanced over at Peter. Tony spent a lot of time second guessing everything he said and did around Peter. He felt like he was walking on egg shells.

Peter nodded. "It's weird that it doesn't match. It's like it's been altered." He glanced over at Tony before looking back at the screen. "But, yeah, I think it's safe to assume he's a shapeshifter."

Tony sat back in his chair and looked over at Peter. He could see the evidence of the strain of the last couple weeks etched in his face. He knew the constant buzz of his spidey sense going off was wearing on him. Fury had also delivered a device capable of detecting a Skrull. Natasha and Steve had gone through Peter's school earlier that day. True to their word they had done it without the student body knowing they were there. The only reason Peter knew was because halfway through third period the ever present buzz telling him he was in danger stopped. The receptionist in the office had been an impersonator. When she knew she had been caught she ran. Natasha and Steve had lost her once she had gotten outside. Being able to shift your appearance at will made trailing someone challenging. The detector Fury had provided only worked within 20 or 30 feet which made using it out in the open impossible. "How was the rest of school once your spidey sense stopped triggering."

Peter shrugged. "It's nice to have somewhere other than here where it's quiet." Peter smiled, "It's also nice that Pepper and May can't keep pushing to pull me out of school until this is over. I was a little worried that I was going to have Avengers sitting in class with me."

Pepper and May had taken Tony and Peter's revelation in stride. Both women had seen it as just science supporting the relationship that already existed. They had responded way better than either Tony or Peter had. Where Tony was now second guessing everything he said and did, Peter had buried it. They just didn't talk about it. "I don't know, it might have been entertaining to see Steve sitting in physics with you."

Peter laughed, "Yeah, but then he would also be in PE with me and that wouldn't have gone well for anyone."

"I still want you to be driven too and from school. Just because we've eliminated the threat at the school doesn't mean it's not still there. And, if they were willing to walk into this building it means they're getting desperate." It bothered Tony that they couldn't figure out who was behind it or what they wanted with Peter. 

Peter nodded. "Pepper said she and Happy are driving me tomorrow. Something about a meeting on Long Island."

"Yes. And I have a thing in Washington but I should be back before schools out. How about I pick you up?" Tony glanced over at Peter.

Peter smiled. "Ok. Can I drive?" The thing about always having babysitters was that someone else was always driving. Once Peter had gotten comfortable with driving he realized that he really enjoyed it. He hadn't been able to drive anywhere since this whole thing started.

"Sure kid." It dawned on Tony that Peter could have asked him for anything and he would have given it to him. He was pretty sure that was not something he needed to get in the habit of doing but right now, he was ok with it.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You got everything, right?" Pepper smiled at Peter who was sitting next to her in the back of the town car. They had just crossed the bridge and were about ten minutes away from Peter's school.

"Yes, ma'am." Peter glanced down at Pepper's stomach. "Is that Morgan's foot?" There was a district raised area that kept moving.

Pepper laughed. "Yes." She took Peter's hand and placed on her stomach where Morgan's foot was pushing out. "Morgan, say good morning to your big brother."

Peter smiled as the area moved beneath his hand. He had a sister on the way. Before, he had a natural protectiveness of Morgan. If he were honest, he had always thought of her as his little sister but to hear Pepper say it gave him a warm feeling that he couldn't have put into words if he tried. He was content to feel the little foot moving under his hand until his spidey sense went from zero to 100. Spinning his head around he looked out the front windshield to see something fall in front of the car. Peter couldn't have told you the sequence of events that happened next. All he knew was that there was a loud explosion and when he looked down he was looking into Pepper's eyes. He glanced over his shoulder and saw smoke and the front of the car was destroyed. He could see Happy, but Happy didn't seem like he was moving at first. Then he saw a small amount of movement as Happy moved his head. He looked back down at Pepper.

"I'm fine." Pepper had her own panic button on her watch and had triggered it.

Peter moved from where he had shielded Pepper from the blast and turned back to the front. Kicking his door open he got out and pulled open Happy's door to check on him. Happy was conscious enough to have pulled his gun from his holster but that was about it. Peter turned back to the scene in front of him. The smoke was clearing and he heard the same cackle he had in the alley with Sam. A figure descended from above. It was green and it had pointy ears and it was on some kind of hovering vehicle, just big enough to carry the creature. Peter raised both hands and triggered webs aimed at the creature just to have the webs fail to stick, which had never happened before. He tried again with the same result. It was almost like the webs were dissolving on contact. Peter glanced down and saw Happy's gun in his hand. Grabbing it, he unloaded the clip into the floating device, destroying the engines which sent it crashing to the ground. The creature recovered quickly. Peter tried the webs again just to have them slide off of the creature's skin and clothing. Just as he was about to launch himself at it, it scampered down the street and into an alleyway.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony threw open the doors to the medical wing of the tower. The first thing he saw was Peter sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. He was vaguely aware that the rest of the team was in the hall as well. FRIDAY had downloaded Pepper and Happy's condition to him on his agonizingly slow flight back to New York. He had debated using the armor but the jet was slightly faster. It just meant that Tony was left with nothing to do but worry the entire time he was in the air. He knew Pepper and Morgan were fine and that Happy would be ok. He crouched in front of Peter. "Pete, look at me. Are you ok."

Peter finally raised his head and looked at Tony. He had been oscillating between anger and guilt, never quite landing fully on one. Seeing Tony in front of him, he completely broke down. "I tried..."

Tony pulled him into a hug. "Pete, they're going to be fine. Pepper and Morgan have already been checked out. Both are perfectly healthy thanks to you. Happy will be ok."

"They could have died because of me." Peter choked out, his arms tightening around Tony.

"Peter, you're not responsible for any of this." Tony knew what Peter had done. He had talked to Pepper during his flight back and knew that Peter had shielded her from the blast. With his arms securely around his son, he could feel the burn holes in Peter's shirt. He knew what could have happened. He had also talked to Natasha. The team had gotten there extraordinarily fast after Pepper had hit the panic button. He knew Peter had taken Happy's gun and shot at the attacker until he had taken it down. Natasha had been impressed with Peter's accuracy. They all knew he would never have aimed at a person so the fact that all of the shots were clustered around the engine had astonished Natasha. But not Tony. He played golf with his kid on a regular basis and had seen him repeatedly land a golf ball perfectly.

"Come on, let's go see Pepper." Tony leaned back a little expecting Peter to release him so they could get up and walk into Pepper's room. Instead he could feel Peter shake his head and heard the whispered "I can't."

"Pete. Come on, Pepper said you hadn't been in to see her." Tony frowned as Peter released him and sat back. He looked into Peter's eyes and saw the mixture of fear, anger, and guilt. Before he could do anything else, Peter slid out of the chair and bolted down the hall. Tony dipped his head then looked over at Natasha, who nodded and walked down the hall after Peter. He knew she'd be able to keep an eye on him and still give him space. Pushing himself up he stood and walked into Pepper's room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony walked into the lab. Peter had settled into a routine. School, lab, dinner, lab, sleep, lab, school, repeat. It wasn't healthy. When May, Pepper, and Happy had left for the compound he had barely acknowledged it. Vision and Wanda we're staying at the compound to ensure their safety. Tony didn't think they would be attacked but at this point he wasn't sure of anything. He felt good leaving their safety in Wanda's hands. She had been spending time with their mutant friend and had not only gotten better control over her powers but they had grown as well.

Peter's safety was another matter entirely. The school was still clear and not triggering Peter's spidey sense so it was really just traveling to and from school that was the problem. Tony had considered pulling him out but Peter was so edgy he needed an outlet. Right now, school was it. Tony surveyed the scene in front of him. Parts and pieces were everywhere. "Are you building drones?"

Peter had barely acknowledged Tony's entrance into the lab much less the question. He glanced up when Tony leaned over the lab table to look at what Peter was doing. Which was building drones. Five of them to be exact but it looked like way more based on the pieces on the table.

"Peter, come on kid. I need you to talk to me."

Peter put the tiny screwdriver down and looked up at Tony. "Talk to you about how someone has basically forced me to stay in hiding for the past month? Or how about how Pepper, Morgan, and Happy almost died because of me? Or maybe there's something else you want to talk about?" Peter met Tony's eyes as if to challenge him. Not getting a response, he looked back down and picked up the screwdriver and went back to work on the drone. "Just let me work through this my own way. We'll figure it out. We always do. I just can't do this. Not right now."

Tony pushed back from the table. "Pete. I get it. I just want to help." He paused and looked back at the mini drone army in various stages of completion on the table. "35 suits. I made 35 suits because I wanted to feel like I was in control. Please let me help."

Peter blinked away tears that threatened to fall. "Just let me work it out." He looked up. "Please."

Tony looked at his son and wished he didn't see so much of himself staring back. Tony's resolve broke when Peter whispered the second "Please". He nodded and turned to leave the lab. Pausing at the door he looked back at Peter who already had his head back down.

Peter dropped the screwdriver when the door slid closed. Crossing his arms on the table he put his head down. "I'm sorry Dad." Peter wanted nothing more than to talk the whole thing out with him, but he knew he'd never be allowed to do what he was planning and it was the only option he saw. Raising his head back up he brushed away the tears. He still had a lot to do if he wanted to put his plan in motion tonight.


	6. He’s In Trouble Isn’t He

Tony walked down the hall towards Peter's room. If he didn't get moving, he was going to be late. Tony had been driving him to and from school ever since the attack. He knocked on the door and not receiving a reply he pushed it open. Seeing an empty bed he frowned. "FRIDAY, where's Peter?"

"Peter's tracking device shows that he is on the way to school."

Tony pushed away the worry that was weighing on him. He shouldn't be surprised that Peter was pushing back. The last couple weeks had not been good but had deteriorated rapidly after the attack. "Vitals?"

"All within normal ranges."

"Tell me when he gets to school." Tony glanced at Peter's empty bed before shutting the door. He pulled out his phone and texted Peter.

_"Let me know when you get to school."_

He wasn't sure if truly expected a response. Peter had barely talked to him in the last couple days. He probably should have let Bucky take him to school but he was scared that there would be another attack and he wanted to be there with him if something happened. When he didn't get an immediate response he slid his phone back in his pocket and went to find Natasha. It was time to change tactics and bring this to an end.

XXXXXXXXXX

Steve and Natasha were sitting with Tony in the scaled down command center they had built at the tower. Tony was right, it was time to change tactics, they just weren't making much progress. Natasha had been working various angles for weeks trying to trace what was going on back to someone...anyone, and hadn't been successful. They had tapped into SHIELD to try to get additional information but hadn't had any luck there either. This needed to get resolved before Peter and Tony both lost it. Natasha was a little concerned that Peter was already there. She knew he wasn't responding to Tony's texts so she had tried herself. No response. "Tony, text Ned. See if he can get him to text us back.

Tony nodded and pulled up a new text message to Ned. _"Can you please tell Peter to text me back."_

The reply from Ned came back almost instantly. _"Peter's not here. He texted last night and said he wasn't feeling good."_

Tony read the message and his stomach dropped. Another message from Ned popped up. _"How do you not know this? Doesn't Peter have his tracker on?"_

Before Tony could even register what Ned was saying, a picture came through. A picture of one of the mini spider drones sitting in Peter's seat in Physics. The picture was followed by another message. _"He's in trouble isn't he."_

Tony felt like he couldn't breath. "FRIDAY, video playback of Peter's movements over the last 24 hours."

Natasha and Steve froze and looked at Tony. FRIDAY put various video up on the holoscreens.

"One saved video message."

"FRIDAY, play video." Panic was sweeping through Tony. He already knew what Peter had done. The first thing Tony saw was the mop of brown curls. Peter raised his head to look at the camera. He was in the lab leaning against the work table.

"Hey Dad." Peter paused and smiled. "That's going to take some getting used to. We'll have to work on it." The smile faded as he continued. "This needs to end. We can't continue to live like this and I'm not putting anyone else in harms way. If something had happened to Pepper and Morgan...". Peter stopped again. Tony recognized the look on Peter's face. Fear mixed with determination and a touch of anger. "Anyway, I think you know what I'm planning. But I'm not stupid. I worked on the radiation amplifier. FRIDAY ran tests and it working the way we wanted it to. You should be able to track me even if I'm somewhere that's shielded. I had FRIDAY delay giving you the recording long enough that I should have time to convincingly get grabbed - even if you figure it out before I want you to, which you probably will. So...come get me." Peter paused, when he spoke again there was a catch in his voice. "Dad, I love you." Peter reached up and switched off the recording and screen turned black.

Tony felt movement behind him. He heard Steve speak softly. "Get the team ready, we leave in 5." He felt Steve squeeze his shoulder. "Let's go get him." Losing Peter was not an option. Tony tapped the nanohousing and the suit formed around him, providing a shield between him and the world around him. He didn't think his facade would hold without the mask in place. "FRIDAY, find him.”


	7. I Made You

Peter jerked awake. He glanced around, trying to take in as much as he could. He was in a lab. At least that's what it looked like, but not like the warm and welcoming lab at home. He was definitely strapped to a table. He pulled his arm up to test whatever was holding him down. It felt like metal...and it felt reinforced. He could break most materials. This one seemed different. No give at all. He gave up on the strap holding his upper body and started testing his legs. Pain shot through his left leg. The memory of how he had been taken down flooded back. He glanced down to see a piece of wood still sticking out of his thigh. Crap. That was going to hurt when it came out. He could feel the skin and muscle trying to heal around it and attempting to push it out. He knew his knee had to be hurt as well. It felt tight which meant it was probably swollen. He remembered landing hard. 

He lifted his head up as much as he could and tried to look around the room. He could see various machines and computers. Typical lab stuff. A tray of surgical tools and vials of blood. Not typical lab stuff, at least not his type of lab. He heard a door open behind him. Craning his neck he tried to see who, or what, was coming in. After the fight last night he wasn't sure of anything anymore. The figure walking towards him was human. And he recognized him.

"Ah, Mr. Parker, you're awake." Norman Osborn walked down the short flight of steps into the lab.

Peter fought to keep the surprise and confusion off his face. Norman Osborn was so far down the list of who he would have guessed, especially after battling a very non-human creature last night. The creature he had seen twice before. The one with the eerie cackle. "Why am I here."

Osborn crossed the room and checked the computer screen. "You're here because I want to know how you do the things you do."

Peter almost instinctively replied 'I don't know what you're taking about' which would have been ridiculous considering he was still wearing a Spider-Man suit. It was a new one, one he had just made that didn't have the bells and whistles and didn't have Karen. Between his Spidey sense and his other suits it would have been incredibly hard to actually get captured. He had so many protocols built in to protect him, creating a new suit had been vital to his plan. Instead he remained silent.

"Not up for talking, huh. That's ok. I prefer to get my information from scientific data anyway. I've already analyzed your blood and your DNA to figure out which of my little science experiments were able to turn you into the creation you are." He walked over to Peter and looked down at him. "What I find so interesting is that I've tried that same variant on other test subjects without the same result."

Peter couldn't help himself. "Maybe it's your test subjects."

"I believe you're on to something there. Just like Rogers was a less than healthy specimen before his transformation, you too were not the picture of health before my spider bit you. In both of your cases I think your less than healthy immune system was the key to your transformation." Osborn moved a tray closer to him. "It'll make recruiting new test subjects that much easier."

"Why are you doing this? I mean, isn't trying to create super soldiers kinda past it's prime?" From the angle Peter had, he couldn't tell what was on the tray.

"My dear boy, creating a viable super soldier will never be past its prime. There are countries willing to pay millions for just one or two soldiers. And then there's what certain parts within our own country is willing to do to control the super soldier formula." Osborn leaned over Peter. "You are worth millions. Maybe even billions." Osborn picked up a scalpel. "I am curious, how did you know you were in danger. I could not get close to you no matter what I did. That's why I had to resort to masquerading as Richard Parker. But that backfired as well." He held the scalpel where Peter could see it. "How did you know?"

Peter swallowed. Osborn didn't know about his spidey sense. There was no point in giving him that information. "Ouija board."

Osborn pursed his lips. "You've been around Stark too long. You've picked up some of his habits." He pressed the scalpel into Peter's arm, cutting straight through the material of the suit and into the flesh below.

Peter bit back a surprised cry of pain. In all honesty, he had felt worse.

"Your tolerance for pain is outstanding. I can't tell if it's a by product of the spider bite or if you're just naturally tough." He sliced into Peter's arm again, watching Peter bite his lip to avoid crying out.

"Isn't this the part where you tell me you'll stop trying to hurt me if I help you?" Peter bit his lip again to fight off the stinging in his arm.

"Oh, no. Like I said, I prefer the scientific approach. This is all about building a database of information for my benefactors. I want to see how long you take to heal." He glanced down at Peter's leg. "I'm also curious if your body will heal around the piece of wood in your leg or push it out. I can't wait to find out what it does." He was almost excited at the prospect. He picked up a tablet and started making notes.

Peter stared up at the ceiling. He was regretting his plan. He really didn't think he was going to end up being a science experiment. He wished he knew how long he had been unconscious but there was nothing that even hinted at what time it was. Peter decided he might as well see what information he could get out of Osborn. "Who's the green guy, with the pointy ears."

Osborn looked up from his clipboard and smiled. "You mean this guy?"

Osborn morphed in front of Peter's eyes into the creature he had battled last night. "What the hell? What did you do?"

Osborn morphed back into his human self. "I stumbled upon these absolutely fascinating creatures a little over a year ago. Truly remarkable to study. Still don't know what they were doing on earth but they were obviously alien in origin. I had three of them. I eventually was able to get a serum that would allow me to morph at will. Interesting effect...I'm stronger as the, as you called it, green guy with the pointy ears. The strength unfortunately doesn't transfer into my original form. The serum allowed us to follow you without creating a recognizable pattern or tipping anyone off." Osborn fiddled with some equipment to the side of Peter. "My morphing serum managed to satisfy my benefactor for the short term while I continued to try to deliver the super soldiers he wants." He looked back down at Peter. "Which bring us back to you. I can create the serum from your blood, I just need to know what your limits are so I can set the proper expectations with my benefactor."

Peter didn't know what he was expecting but excruciating pain wasn't it. He screamed as his body convulsed. The few thoughts he could put together were that Osborn was hitting him with electricity and it hurt. A lot.

"Interesting. You do not tolerate electricity at all." Osborn stopped to write on his tablet again. "I'll have to see if I can fix that in future creations. Can't have a million dollar asset taken down by a simple bolt of electricity." He paused thinking through the problem. "Of course we could just make sure their uniforms had a dampener in it."

Peter closed his eyes. "Stop calling me a creation. I'm not your creation."

Osborn twisted the knob again, increasing the voltage. "Of course you are my dear boy. I made you."

Peter felt electricity coursing through his body again. He screamed until he couldn't scream anymore and slipped into unconsciousness


	8. Rescue

Peter dreamed of the familiar whirl of a repulsor charging. It was a comforting sound. It was a sound he would always associate with Tony. He tried to blink away the fog in his brain because the repulsor sound was partnered with a lot of other sounds he usually masked with music. He groaned as he opened his eyes just to close them again because there was a lot of dust. And a hole in the wall that hadn't been there before. His first thought was 'Thank God. They're here'. His second thought was to wonder just how pissed off Tony was going to be. His third thought was that it didn't matter because Tony was his dad and his dad had come to get him. He knew the thought sounded vaguely childish, he just didn't care at the moment. He tried to open his eyes to see what was going on and saw that Osborn had transformed into the green guy with pointy ears and had been joined by security that was currently battling the team. He could see a hint of red and gold by the breach in the door.

He had kept the nanotech bracelet on. He had never had so much of a problem forming a web shooter but he finally felt it form around his wrist. He didn't have a whole lot of mobility but he had enough to be able to fire a couple webs, slowing down a couple of Osborn's men. He felt the web-shooter collapse back into the bracelet and frowned when he couldn't form it again. He soon felt metal hands on both sides working the straps holding him down. He blinked his eyes open and saw not only Iron Man but Bucky as well. They were both breaking the metal straps until he could move again. He struggled to sit up.

"Easy Pete." Tony slid his armored arm under Peter's to maneuver him off the table. FRIDAY was already evaluating Peter's vitals.

"Boss, Peter's heartbeat is erratic. I suggest we get him to the Quinjet immediately."

Tony looked over at Bucky who was supporting Peter's other side. "We need to get him out of here." Both of them were ignoring the firefight going on around them. Not only did Osborn have security with him in the lab but they were converging on the lab from other areas of the building. Tony slapped a modified version of nanohousing on Peter's chest and watched the Iron Spider form around him. The last thing they needed was for Peter to get hit by a bullet on the way out. Nodding at Bucky they lifted Peter off the table. Tony could hear a groan coming from Peter as he tried to put weight on his leg. "Pete, let us do the work. Just relax." He felt Peter relax a little so Bucky and Tony lifted him off his feet and started moving.

Peter knew they were moving but he wasn't doing anything to help. He wasn't sure if his eyes were closed or if the Iron Spider's eyes were closed. He heard both an automatic weapon and repulsors firing on either side of him but stopped worrying about it. He just wanted to stay conscious. He wasn't sure if he was accomplishing that or not.

When he tried opening his eyes again, the Iron Spider suit had retreated back into its nanohousing. He tried to glance around. He didn't think he was still in Osborn's lab but he was laying down. He didn't want to be laying down. It reminded him of Osborn. He struggled to sit up and immediately felt a metal hand on his chest.

"Tony...". Bucky called towards the front of the Quinjet.

Tony turned away from the cockpit and crossed the short distance to where Peter was struggling against Bucky to sit up. He lowered himself into a chair next to Peter. "Hey." He smiled down at the face that relaxed as soon they locked eyes. "Let Bucky stabilize your leg. You knee and thigh are a mess."

"Dad...". Peter collapsed back onto the cot, relief in his voice. He closed his eyes against a wave of dizziness. "I feel like crap."

Tony reached up and grabbed an oxygen mask and fastened it over Peter's face. "That would be because your heart rate is all over the place. I need you to relax. Just breathe."

Peter nodded and forced his eyes open again and looked up. He could see the machine showing his heartbeat. "Electricity"

Tony looked down at Peter. "I know." He had seen the burn marks. He reached down and put his hand on Peter's chest. He smiled when Peter reached up and grabbed his hand. He forced himself to focus on the machines monitoring Peter's heart. He couldn't let himself savor the fact that Peter had called him 'Dad'. Or even the fact that he had him back. He could feel the Quinjet descending to the roof of the tower. Helen was already there. He had called her when they were leaving. The only thing he could focus on was making sure Peter was going to be ok.

The ramp lowered as soon as the wheels touched down. Dr. Cho and her team boarded and started preparing Peter for transport to the medical wing. Bucky moved out of the way. Tony did not. He found himself not wanting to let go of Peter's hand. Dr. Cho sighed to herself and just worked around him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tony settled in the chair next to Peter's bed. IV cocktail in place, Dr. Cho had opted to sedate Peter to let his body start making repairs. The heart monitor had stopped its erratic beeps a little while ago and with the exception of a blip here and there it seemed like Peter's heart was back in rhythm. Tony's gut had been right when he had been so concerned about Peter's exposure to electricity. He thought the suits had strong enough dampeners in them but he wasn't sure. As much as it turned his stomach to think about it, he needed to know how much of a current Peter had been hit with. He heard a soft tap at the door and looked over to see Steve walk in.

Not wanting to intrude, Steve stopped at the door. He walked over to Peter's bed when Tony motioned with his head for him to come in. "How is he?"

"Sedated. His heartbeat is somewhat back in synch. He'll have to wear a knee brace for a couple days but should be fine." Tony leaned forward and fiddled with one of the monitor wires moving it away from Peter's arm. "Everyone ok?" Tony had been next to Peter since finding him. He wasn't even sure how long the team had been back. Steve was in jeans and a t-shirt so he had at least been back long enough to change.

Steve nodded. "Natasha is going through all of the intel we grabbed. We didn't want to risk SHIELD or anyone else getting it. Once we loaded everything, we torched the inside." Steve watched Tony nod his head in approval and then look down at the floor. "How are you?"

Tony forced a smile and looked over at Steve. "My son used himself as bait and is in a hospital bed." He leaned back in the chair. "I've been better."

Steve smiled. "He'll recover. Are you going to ground him?"

Tony chuckled. "According to Rhodey I've never been good at that. He's not sure I understand the intent or the definition."

"You've never been able to tell him no. I don't see that changing anytime soon." Steve looked at Tony. He still didn't know all of the details but it didn't matter. Fatherhood suited Tony. He paused because he realized they were in new territory. Generally, all intel was shared across the team. It was a rule they had broken once with disastrous consequences. But this was different. There were some things you couldn't forget no matter how hard you tried. Steve wondered if this was one thing that Tony would be better off not knowing. But it wasn't his call to make. "Tony, how much do you want to know...about what happened?"

Tony looked back at Peter. He didn't know how to answer Steve. The only thing he truly cared about right now was making sure Peter was ok. There were things he needed to know in order to make sure Peter was protected in the future, but the rest of it? "I'll let you know after I talk to Pete."

Steve nodded. For now it would all stay with himself and Natasha.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Steve walked into the command center and looked at the lone figure at the table. Natasha had boxes stacked on the table in front of her and was flipping through a tablet. "How's it coming."

Natasha glanced up and frowned. "The more I dig into this the less I like it. How's Peter?" She hadn't ventured into the medical wing yet. She thought she could do him more good here than keeping Tony company.

"Sedated. Tony said he thought his heart was more or less back in rhythm." Steve lowered himself into the chair next to Natasha and pulled a box towards him.

Natasha put the tablet down and leaned back in her chair. "What does Tony know?"

Steve shook his head. "Nothing. He wants to talk to Peter first."

"There's some of this that we're going to need Peter's help with and Tony isn't going to like it."

Steve frowned. When they had talked about it before the plan was to leave Peter out of any of the intel discussion. For Natasha to want to bring him into it meant it wasn't good. "What did you find?"

"He sequenced Peter's DNA. I don't think he sent it out though. But that's where my problem is. Osborn was working for someone. Someone who already has his morphing technology and someone who had him under tremendous pressure to deliver super soldiers." Natasha looked over at Steve. There was a very short list of people who would have the backing necessary for this.

"Ok. There's nothing we can do until he wakes up anyway so keep digging. Maybe you'll find something that will allow us to keep him out of this. How much more do you have to go through?"

Natasha looked around at the boxes on the table. "It's going to take me a couple days." She picked the tablet back up. "I did find our Skrull friends though. The ones we lost track of after Peter and Tony fought them and the Kree."

Steve frowned as Natasha slid the tablet over to him. The pictures were almost enough to turn Steve's stomach. He almost hated to ask the next question. "Have you been able to tell what he did to Peter?"

Natasha tapped a box next to her. "He was meticulous in his note taking. There's also video. I haven't watched it yet but the notes are more than enough. If he weren't already dead, he would be. I'm just glad Peter wasn't there that long. I think Osborn probably brought him in around 3:30 am. We got there around 9:30. Six hours. Thankfully, I think Peter was unconscious for most of it."

Steve scrubbed a hand over his face. "I hope Tony decides he never needs to know and we can just burn all of this."


	9. I’m Just Glad You’re Here

Peter groggily tried to roll over only to end up in a tangle of wires.

"Easy. Dr. Cho is going to pitch a fit if you pull some of this off." Tony gently pressed Peter's shoulder back so he was on his back again. When Peter started to struggle against him, he leaned over and focused on Peter's face. "It's me." When the brown doe eyes finally focused and opened, he smiled. "Hey."

Peter smiled as he relaxed and nestled back. He was safe. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?" Tony scrutinized Peter's face.

"Better than I did before." Peter glanced down and could see a brace on his leg and frowned.

"It's only for a couple days." Tony crossed his arms and rested them on the bed rails. He watched Peter try to adjust the wires to get them out of the way only to pull out two of them. Shaking his head, he reached over and pushed the call button.

Dr. Cho must have realized Peter was awake because she was joined by two nurses who proceeded to unhook Peter from most of the wires. "Peter, I want you to try something." She handed him a ball. "See if you can stick to it and release."

Peter frowned and took the ball from her. Setting it in his palm, he flipped his hand over and watched the ball tumble to the bed. He looked over at Tony in panic. "Why aren't I sticky?"

Tony looked over at Dr. Cho. "You think the current disrupted everything?"

Helen nodded. "Can you form the nanotech web-shooter?"

Peter was in full panic mode. He stared at his wrist trying to make the web shooters form with no luck. He felt Tony's hand on his shoulder and looked over.

"I think it's temporary." Tony gave Peter a reassuring smile. "You took a pretty big hit of current. Your heart is still blipping out of sync every once in a while. Just give it a couple days."

Peter frowned and picked up the ball again. He looked over at his left leg. "What about my knee?"

"It's only for a couple days too. The injury to your thigh has already healed. The ligaments in your knee were all torn. They're healing, we just want to make sure they're fully healed before we let you have free range of motion." Helen glanced over at Tony. "I want to keep him down here tonight to make sure he doesn't have any heart related issues. If he has a good night he can go back upstairs in the morning."

Peter settled back onto the bed after Dr. Cho left, still focused on the ball and trying to make it stick until Tony reached over and took it out of his hand. "Stop. There's no point in worrying about it yet." He looked at Peter's face and could see panic just under the surface. "All you're going to do is set yourself up for a repeat of what happened before."

"What if it doesn't come back?" Peter couldn't keep the panic out of his voice.

"I think it will, but if it doesn't then we'll fix it...together." Tony emphasized the last word and sat back in the chair, setting the ball on the table.

Peter frowned and stared at his lap. He hadn't counted on losing part of himself. If he wasn't sticky and if he couldn't control the nanotechnology, could he even be Spider-Man? What is the rest of it was gone too?

Tony looked at his kid and knew he needed to come up with a distraction. Peter was starting to spiral into the black hole of anxiety. While he was waiting for Peter to wake up he had a whole speech planned out in his head. All about how Peter shouldn't have gone off on his own, about how scared he had been, about how he was worried he wouldn't see him again. In his head it had been a great father speech, capped off by telling him how much he loved him. The whole speech that was now being dumped into the recycle bin in Tony's brain because the last thing Peter needed right now was any kind of reprimand. Instead, he decided to focus on what the two of them did best. Tech talk and burying everything until later. "Ok, I understand the drones. I think. You used them to fake your tracking signal, right?"

Peter looked over at him with a look of disbelief. He had been expecting a lecture, on the scale of the one he had gotten after the ferry incident. Instead, he was being quizzed about his plan. "Uh, yes sir. I had one that was in my room, one that covered the distance to the subway, one on the subway, and one at school. The fifth one was the backup in case there was a problem with any of the others."

Tony nodded, it really had been a good plan. "I also get the new suit. It would have been hard to have been captured with any of the others ones."

Peter nodded, "It was hard enough with my spidey sense going off. Sometimes I move out of the way of something completely subconsciously. Add Karen and the protocols and it would have been impossible." Maybe he was being lulled into a false sense of security before being grounded for life.

"Here's what I don't get. How in the hell did you trick FRIDAY? She's programmed to let me - and I think even Natasha at this point - know if you leave the building." Tony leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He honestly had not been able to figure it out. He had checked FRIDAY'S programming while he was waiting on Peter to wake up. It hadn't been tampered with.

Peter smiled. "Those protocols weren't in place until this whole thing started. All I did was change the system date to a date prior to this starting and then had it revert back at 7am this morning." He looked over at Tony. "I'm sorry, I know you don't like anyone to mess with FRIDAY. I just couldn't get out of the building otherwise."

Tony frowned. That was entirely too simple. Genius, but simple. He'd have to put something in to prevent anyone from changing the system date. He couldn't believe he had missed something like that. He also was used to FRIDAY just being there for his use and to protect Pepper. It's not like the idea of tampering with FRIDAY would have even occurred to Pepper. Peter had been included in FRIDAY's protocols for a while, he had just never taken into consideration what that actually meant. He looked up at Peter and smiled. "It was a good plan. Just don't do it again."

Peter nodded and looked down at his lap. "You know, I wanted to talk to you, I just knew you wouldn't let me do it if you knew what I was planning."

Tony sat back in his chair. Hell no he wouldn't have let him do it. "I get why you did it." He was trying to figure out how to be a supportive dad and realized he didn't know what that was. The only thing he kept thinking was 'just do the opposite of what Howard would have done'.

"You do?" Peter looked over in surprise.

"I do. I just wish you hadn't had to do it." Tony scrubbed his hand over his face.

"So you're not mad?" Peter asked hopefully.

Tony chuckled. "I'm not sure mad is the word. I'm just glad you're...here." Tony smiled at his son who was grinning at him


	10. Nightmare

Tony shifted in the chair next to Peter's bed. It didn't matter how comfortable of a chair he thought he had, it usually got really uncomfortable after spending a day or two in it. He opened his eyes and glanced at the clock. 2:30 am. Wonderful he thought sarcastically. He glanced over at Peter who was moving just enough that it had caught Tony's eye. He had woken the kid up from nightmares enough over the last couple years that he recognized the beginnings of one. Leaning over he put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Pete, wake up."

It took a couple seconds but Peter's eyes snapped open. His eyes darted around until they landed on Tony. "Dad...". Peter exhaled as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position.

Tony smiled as he helped Peter adjust the bed. "Ok...just so you know, we're not going to spend a year getting used to calling me Dad and only do it when you have a nightmare."

Peter laughed, "Ok, Dad."

Tony thought it had a bit of a sarcastic tone to it but he'd take it. "So was it the fight or what happened after Osborn had you." Over the last couple years, Tony had gotten somewhat proficient in dealing with Peter's nightmares. He had realized at some point that Peter would never volunteer details but would answer questions honestly...so that's what they did.

Peter pushed a pillow behind him. "A little of both I think. That thing he morphed into was bad enough in real life...". Peter looked away from Tony. This is what they did after nightmares and it did wonders for him. He didn't face weeks of dealing with them. They could generally talk them out. But it was never easy.

"Ok. You know he can't hurt you, right?" They generally didn't talk about the status of the "bad guys". Peter wasn't naive, he knew there were casualties. They just didn't talk about it. Tony wondered if they needed to now.

"I know. There was no way he was walking out of there." Peter turned back and looked at his dad and gave him a reassuring smile. "I know."

"Ok, so after he got you, what do you remember?" Tony settled back in the chair.

"After I fell, I didn't stay conscious long. When I woke up I was already in the lab. I think I had been out for a while because he had already figured out which version of the formula caused...". Peter frowned.

"Pete?"

"He kept calling me his creation." He looked over at Tony, "He said he made me."

"Kid...no one made you and you aren't anyone's creation. I may have contributed DNA to you and Osborn may have developed the serum that gave you your abilities but no one made you. You made yourself. You decided who you wanted to be long before you were Spider-Man." Tony leaned forward and locked eyes with Peter. "When you were bitten you had a lot of different paths you could have taken. You chose to help others, not yourself...because that's who you had already decided to be."

"Dad, what if there's something in the serum that makes me...not me? The whole idea of having a Super Soldier is based on being able to control them. Osborn didn't do all of this because he was curious, he was doing it because someone had hired him to do it. Doesn't that mean that you have to have a built in way to control them?" Peter had been rolling the idea around in his head since Osborn had said he was trying to create super soldiers for someone else.

Tony pondered the idea. There was some logic to what Peter was saying. "Natasha is digging through everything they recovered. If you and I need to become experts in genetics so we truly understand all of the mutations in your DNA, we can do that. But I don't think DNA can control your actions." Tony smiled. "The entire Winter Soldier program was developed so they could control them...do exactly what you're talking about. It wasn't done via the DNA, it was done by messing with their brains."

"But what if Osborns' serum was trying to overcome that?"

Tony sighed. He was already accepting the fact that he and Peter were going to become experts in genetics. "Look at it this way. You share my DNA, right?" He waited for Peter to nod his head. "And that explains a lot of our similarities. The fact that we can both control the nanotech but Rhodey can't. The way we both tend to overthink things."

Peter laughed. "Pepper calls it 'crippling anxiety'"

Tony frowned. "When did you and Pepper have a conversation about 'crippling anxiety'?" She wasn't wrong, he just wasn't aware she and Peter talked about it.

"Remember when MJ and I first started dating and you said you weren't ready for 'Spider Babies'? Pepper and I both woke up with a nightmare...about spider babies. When I started freaking out about the mutation she said my 'Tony' was showing. That you think things five steps out which makes you the genius you are but can also give you crippling anxiety."

"She's not wrong. And, yes, you and I think alike. Our brains are probably wired the same. And, if we really want to delve into genetics, we both get it from my father, your grandfather. While we might share some tendencies we're also so different. Dad didn't seem to have the same anxiety issues. He was also a pretty horrible person most of the time. According to my therapist, a lot of my anxiety issues go back to my relationship with my father or I guess you could say the non existent relationship I had with my father. I think a lot of yours are because you had to deal with so much at such a young age. The DNA doesn't determine the outcome. You do." It never failed to amaze Tony how easy it was to talk about this stuff with Peter. He hated to talk about his father. When he did it was generally as an excuse or to make a point. Right now, it had nothing to do with making a point, but more about just talking with his kid. He didn't understand why Howard never wanted this. He wouldn't miss this for anything.

"So you don't think I'm going to turn into some kind of crazy monster?" Peter was only halfway joking.

"You are not going to turn into a crazy monster. Are you going to go back to sleep?" Tony settled back in his chair.

"Maybe." Peter stifled a yawn and slid further down in bed. "Still think I'll get my stickiness back?"

"Yes, Spiderling. Go to sleep."

XXXXXXXXXX

Natasha heard the clomping of crutches before she heard the unceasing complaining. She looked up from the tablet and saw Tony stop at the door and turn to watch until an incredibly grumpy Peter came into sight. She had to fight back a snicker at the look on both of their faces. Peter's face showed his absolute hatred of the crutches and Tony's showed pure exasperation at the teen. "Peter. Glad you're up and about."

He growled a little bit as he lowered himself in a chair. "Hey, Nat. I hate crutches."

Natasha looked over at Tony who leaned against the door frame. "He tried to convince me to let him just walk on his hands."

"It would have been fine." Peter grumbled from his chair.

Ignoring Peter, Tony looked at Natasha. "Steve said you weren't having much luck figuring out who Osborn was working for. Peter mentioned something about it last night. After some discussion this morning, he wants to see if he can help fill in some blanks."

Natasha understood Tony's message behind the statement. Peter had convinced him to let him do it and Tony still wasn't on board. "Peter, are you sure?"

Peter shrugged, "I don't know how much help I'll be. I was only conscious for a short time. But Osborn did say a couple things while I was awake that you may be able to use."

Natasha nodded and leaned forward picking up a pen and moving a notepad towards her. She smiled a Peter. "Ok. Tell me what he said."

"He was working for someone he kept calling his 'benefactor'. I think he was getting a lot of pressure to deliver a super soldier serum which is why he was so aggressive in trying to get me out in the open."

"Have you come across anything that points to how he knew who Peter was?" Tony asked from his position from the door.

"I think he just pieced it together over time. If you're motivated and have access to resources it isn't that hard to figure out." Natasha shrugged. They all knew it was a possibility despite how many precautions Tony took to hide Peter's identity.

"I think his benefactor was someone within the US government."

Natasha and Peter stared at Peter, both frowning. Natasha glanced over at Tony. "What makes you say that Peter?"

"When he was talking about super soldiers, he was talking about how individual countries would pay millions of dollars for just one or two...then he said something like 'and then there what groups within our own government would do to control the serum." Peter shrugged. "I just got the impression that was who was pushing him for results."

Tony and Natasha glanced at each other. There were a few factions within the government that continued to push for a Super Soldier program. They all had one common denominator...Ross. Natasha looked back at Peter. "That's helpful Peter. It'll help focus what we're looking for."

"Come on Underoos. Let's leave Natasha to her boxes." Tony pulled himself away from the door frame and waited for Peter to maneuver out of the chair. For someone who was always so naturally agile, the crutches made Peter incredibly clumsy. It would have been comical if he didn't know how frustrated Peter was getting with trying to use them


	11. Changes

As soon as Dr. Cho unfastened his knee brace, Peter flexed his knee and looked between Tony and Dr. Cho. "Am I cleared?"

"Yes." Dr. Cho slid back, knowing what was coming next.

Peter jumped off the table. "Dad, I'm going to the gym to swing!"

Tony watched Peter dart out the door. Sometimes he acted mature beyond his age...other times...not so much.

"How's the rest of it?" Dr. Cho looked over at Tony who was watching Peter disappear down the hallway.

"Stickiness is coming back. His control is sporadic but it's getting better." Tony pushed off from the counter he was leaning against. "I'm going to go make sure he doesn't kill himself. Happy, May, and Pepper are coming back tonight. I really don't want to try to explain that he's hurt because he did something stupid."

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter bolted into the gym slapping a pair of web shooters on his wrists. Flinging both wrists he landed webs on the highest rafters in the gym and pulled himself up. When they finished out the floor that the gym was on, they ended up tearing out the ceiling in order to create the height Peter needed to swing. It still wasn't as high as the gyms at the compound but was high enough for Peter to flip around.

Natasha and Sam barely blinked when Peter flipped over where they were sparring. "Somebody got his knee brace off." Natasha paused to let Sam catch his breath. She glanced over to the door and saw Tony walking through. Before, you sometimes saw one without the other but ever since they had rescued Peter, Tony was never too far away.

Tony stopped to watch Peter flip through the air before he heading over to Sam and Natasha. "Any updates?"

Natasha shook her head. "I think we all believe Ross was the government benefactor. Proving it is another issue all together." Natasha looked up as Peter twisted midair and flung another web. "Also, Osborn's disappearance is making the news."

Tony shrugged. "It was bound to happen. He ran one of the larger tech companies in the world. He's always been a little eccentric but disappearing for more than a week was bound to be noticed. Any chance it gets traced back to us?"

Natasha shook her head. "We were careful when we went in. His facility wasn't registered to OsCorp so it was definitely off the books. I doubt any of his research with the Skrulls or the Super Soldier Serum has any ties to the company."

Sam leaned against a column, "How does that work? How could he keep all of that out of his company."

Tony smiled, "Good lawyers that know what they're doing. All of the Avenger stuff is completely outside of SI. And, any technological advances that are developed from tech recovered from any Avenger op has to go through a defense committee before we can patent it through SI. When you have government contracts you almost have to have entire RD divisions outside of the company. Otherwise there's too much oversight."

"And, that is why I have zero desire to be in the business world." Sam picked up his water bottle from the floor. "Thanks for the sparring practice Nat." He glanced up at Peter, "Tony, good luck reining that in."

Tony smiled at Sam as he walked out of the gym. "Nat, are you sure they can't trace Osborn back to us?"

"It was a clean ingress and egress and the entire inside was torched, bodies included. I know that's not our typical procedure but no one wanted any of it traced back to us." It dawned on Natasha how much her life had changed. She was explaining that hiding the bodies wasn't the norm. It had always been her norm before. Funny how things change.

Tony nodded. Neither he nor Natasha flinched when Peter landed in front of them. "How's the knee feel?"

Peter tossed sweaty curls out of his face. "Knee feels perfect. Stickiness is so so."

Natasha smiled, "It'll come back, just be patient." She picked up her own water bottle. "Tony, I'll let you know if I hear anything different." She waved over her head as she headed out of the gym.

"You need to shower and change. Pepper, May, and Happy will be here for dinner."

Peter nodded and slipped off his web-shooters. "How is Pepper feeling?"

Tony walked with Peter toward the elevator, "Well, she's six months pregnant and pissed off at me because I won't let her travel. Our goal tonight is to put her in a good mood."

Peter laughed, "Whatever you do, don't talk about the wedding. Last time, she was mad at you for a week."

"I am definitely not bringing up the wedding. I think that whole thing has been tabled until after Morgan gets here." Tony pushed Peter into the elevator. "Want to go up to the lake house for Fall Break in a couple weeks? It'll probably do Pepper some good."

"Can we work on the labs?" Peter pushed curls out of his face.

"Of course. Unless Pepper decides that we have to work on Morgan's room." Tony had resigned himself a couple months into Pepper pregnancy that it was way easier to just let Pepper dictate what they did. "Hey, all of your MIT stuff came in this morning. We also need to find a weekend to check out the campus. Knowing Rhodey, he'll want to go too."

Peter frowned. "I'm not even half way though my senior year. How can all of the college stuff be this close."

"It'll be here before you know it. Has Ned decided what he's doing yet?" Tony waited for Peter to exit the elevator before stepping off on their floor.

"No. He's narrowed it down between Cal Tech and MIT though." Peter's frown deepened. "And, MJ got accepted into Princeton."

"Don't stress about your group splitting up. We can fly everyone for visits. Perk of owning a couple jets. Heck, if you buckle down and finish ground school you can get your pilots license and fly yourself." Tony knew his attempt at cheering Peter up was falling on deaf ears.

Peter sighed, "I know. They've just been there the last couple years. I just feel like everything is changing. I'll be in Boston. How am I supposed to patrol Queens when I'm in a completely different state. And, it's not like I can just be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in Boston. There can't be that many people who move from Queens to Boston. I'd lose what little cover I have." All of this had been swirling around in Peter's head since the start of the school year. Someone stalking him had actually provided a distraction from the impending changes, but not in a good way. The only change he was actually looking forward to was Morgan, and that was still three months away.

"Change isn't always a bad thing. You'll make new friends and your circle will just be larger than three." Tony knew a big part of Peter wanted to stay in New York. Peter had even brought up the idea at one point that he didn't need to go to college...which every adult in his life, Avengers included, shot down. Part of Tony felt like he was more or less right. Tony had found college just as boring as all other school. And, it wasn't like the kid had to look for a job. Peter was Tony's succession plan. He just hadn't told Peter yet. Peter was not ready to have the burden of a multi billion dollar company weighing on his shoulders...which is why Tony knew he had to go to college.

"Do you know how long it took me to have more than one friend? Fifteen years." Peter's mood had gone from ecstatic at getting the brace off to grumpy. "I'm taking a shower."

Tony watched him retreat down the hall. Pulling out his phone he sent a text. He couldn't believe he was arranging a play date for a seventeen year old but here they were.


	12. Ice

A week at the cabin was perfect. Not only did Peter and Tony finish Morgan's room, but they also made significant progress on the labs. Happy had driven May up toward the end of the week so May and Pepper could have a girls weekend which gave Tony the chance to head back early with Peter. He glanced over at his son who was currently talking a mile a minute about an upcoming academic decathlon meet. He loved listening to him ramble on, it was even better when Peter realized they had gotten off of the interstate way before their exit and he stopped midstream.

"Where are we going?" Peter looked around in confusion.

"We are killing two birds with one stone. Remember my non-SHIELD option for the people affected by the Terrigen drug Hydra created?"

Peter frowned. "Yes. How is that a bird?"

Tony laughed, "He's a world renowned geneticist. And, he knows how to keep a secret. I sent him your DNA profile to review the mutations. To make sure there isn't a Trojan horse waiting to be released."

Peter started to protest but stopped as they drove through a stately gate that acted as the entrance to the biggest house Peter had ever seen. "This place is huge."

"That's because it's a school." Tony parked in the driveway in front of the main house. "Are you coming?"

Peter looked around as he got out of the car. There were kids of various ages walking across the yard, some of them not quite human looking. He trailed just behind trying to take in everything around him. By the time he reached the front door, it had already been opened.

"Mr. Stark! It's good to see you again! I think the Professor is waiting for you in the study."

Peter smiled at the woman who greeted them and again followed in his dad's wake as he made his way to the study. He could see glimpses of kids in different rooms that he supposed were essentially classrooms. When they walked into the study, he recognized the man he had seen the day Nat had picked him up from school before their mission to London.

"Charles, I'd like you to meet my son, Peter."

Peter smiled to himself. He hadn't been introduced to anyone as Tony's son before. It left a warm feeling in his chest. Stepping forward he reached out to shake the man's hand.

"Peter, Tony has told me so much about you. I'm glad he brought you out here so I could meet you in person." He moved his chair back behind his desk and opened a file on his computer. "Tony mentioned you were worried that there was something in your mutations that would allow someone to essentially control your actions. I've cataloged all of the mutations to the chromosomes that make up your DNA and have identified each purpose. There is nothing that can affect your mind." He turned the screen around so Peter could see.

Peter walked forward and looked at the screen. "There's nothing that could be triggered like the Terrigen?"

Charles shook his head. "There's no trace of any latent segment." He smiled when Peter let out a sigh of relief. "I'll send the report to you so you'll have the information at your disposal."

"Thanks Charles." Tony didn't show the same outward expression of relief but when Peter had brought it up, the thought had kept him up at night more than once. They all turned their head when a door behind them and a boy Peter's age walked through.

"Bobby, thank you for joining us." Charles moved out from behind the desk again. Looking over at Peter, he smiled. "Your father told me you were going to MIT next year. I asked if he wouldn't mind if I introduced you to Bobby. Bobby will also be heading to MIT next year. It's hard enough to go to a new place when you don't know anyone, it's even harder when you have to hide your abilities. I have always found it to be comforting to have a confidant. It's a reminder that you're not alone."

Peter looked at Bobby. He looked like any other kid that he would see every day at school, until he turned to ice. Peter grinned, "That's awesome!" He looked over at his dad who gave him a go ahead nod. Forming both web shooters he raised his arms and shot webs at the ceiling. In a fluid motion he flipped himself up and landed on his feet upside down on the ceiling. He had regained full control over his stickiness over the last week and it made him incredibly happy that he no longer had to worry about tumbling to the ground unexpectedly.

"Holy Shit, you're Spider-Man." Seeing the look he received from Professor Xavier, Bobby quickly followed with "Sorry...But he's Spider-Man!"

Peter flipped off the ceiling and landed in front of Bobby. He extended his hand to shake Bobby's. "Peter Parker."

"Bobby, do you think you can show Peter around?"

"Sure Mr. Stark." Bobby pulled Peter toward the door. "I can't believe you're Spider-Man. I've saw you stop a mugging one time."

Peter frowned a little, "I'm just a kid that was bitten by a spider." He wondered if this is what his dad felt every time someone said 'You're Iron Man' with a star struck look on their face.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bobby got over being star struck with Peter relatively quickly. The more they talked the more they realized they had a fair amount in common. Bobby had grown up just north of Queens and had hung out at some of the same places. Bobby showed Peter around the school he now called home.

"So everyone here has some kind of mutant ability?" Peter was standing next to Bobby on a balcony overlooking an open field where some of the students were playing a variation of kickball. A couple people were phasing in and out to avoid being hit by the ball. It was interesting to watch, although it was still a little unsettling to watch people move through solid objects.

"Yes. Some of them have had some form of their abilities since birth, others, like me, had latent mutations that appeared." Bobby looked at Peter. "So how long have you had your abilities?"

"Three years." Part of Peter couldn't believe it had only been three years. It felt like he had always been Spider-Man.

"You were 14 when you decided to become Spider-Man? That's crazy. I was playing video games all day when I was 14, not fighting crime."

Peter shrugged. "I still play video games."

Bobby laughed. "I've only had my abilities for about a year and a half. And they didn't all show up at once. It started with being cold all the time, but a comfortable cold. It was weird."

Peter thought back to a year and a half ago. The timing was right. "Were your abilities triggered by the Terrigen?"

Bobby nodded. "I was going through a rebellious streak. Went to a party where they were passing around those pills. Took a couple...wound up a mutant. I guess it's better than being dead of a drug overdose. My parents had already been talking about sending me to military school so when Professor Xavier showed up and offered this, they jumped at it." He glanced over at Peter. "They still don't know anything about my mutations. They just pretty much wrote me off." He paused, debating whether he should continue. "You're really lucky to have your dad. And not just because he's Iron Man. Every time he came out here he talked about you. Not Spider-Man, I didn't know anything about that until today. About stuff you two had done in the lab, or something you had done at school. He's really proud of you."

Peter clinched his jaw. He hadn't known much about this place until today and definitely didn't know that his dad visited on a regular basis. Hearing Bobby talk about how proud Tony was of Peter gave him that same warm feeling he had gotten when his dad had introduced him as his son. He glanced down and saw his dad and Professor Xavier walk out of the main house and look up to where he and Bobby were standing. He looked over at Bobby. "Can you make this jump?" He had no idea what the extent of Bobby's abilities were...might as well find out.

Bobby looked over the edge of the railing. "Yeah."

Peter watched him assume his ice form and vault over the side the railing. Peter smiled when he landed. Flipping over the rail he landed in a crouch next to Bobby.

"You even land in a super hero pose!" Bobby laughed as he changed back.

Peter grinned and stood up. He turned and saw Professor Xavier and his dad walking towards them.

"Ok, stop showing off. Are you ready to head home?" Tony stopped in front of Peter and Bobby.

Peter nodded. He pulled out his phone and proceeded to exchange cell numbers and PlayStation user tags with Bobby. Once done, he followed his dad back to the car.

Tony slid behind the steering wheel. He was curious to find out Peter's reaction to their visit. "So what did you think?"

"Interesting place. I don't think I realized there were that many kids with mutations. Professor Xavier seems nice." Peter stared pensively out the window. "Bobby's nice too. It'll be good to see a familiar face next fall."

Tony couldn't quite figure out what was going on in Peter's head. "Take the next couple months and get to know him. If you two think you can get along he can be your roommate. I'd feel better if you weren't by yourself and that you have a roommate won't freak out when he catches you standing on the ceiling because you're studying for a test."

Peter smiled. He had been worried about the possibility of having to keep Spider-Man secret from a roommate. "That's a great idea. Thanks for introducing us." He went back to staring out the window.

"Ok kid, what's wrong?"

Peter looked down at his lap before turning to look at Tony. "I'm not sure I ever really appreciated everything you do for me. Bobby's parents pretty much wrote him off. They don't even know he has mutant abilities. Even before we found out I'm actually your son, you were there. I guess I just never realized that not everyone has that."

"I didn't have that. So it's important to me that you do, even if it means I go overboard sometime." Tony glanced over at Peter. There wasn't much he wouldn't do for Peter and he knew he'd be the same way with Morgan.

Peter smiled, "You're a great dad. I can't wait to see how you do with a baby!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ok, I know I changed Iceman’s origin story. I thought it worked better with the story this way. When I was writing this originally I intended to stop before Peter went to college. Then Sony and Disney went into their breakup drama and everyone started talking about Disney’s intentions for Spider-Man and how he’d wrap in the X-Men and Fantastic Four so my brain started imagining what that would look like. The next thing I knew I had something like 36 chapters of “The College Years”. Until then...**
> 
> **Stuck At School...one shot**
> 
> **New Material...in a conversation with Darth_Nuisha I ended up resurrecting a storyline that had been rolling around in my head. I had a gap between Stuck At School and the next tidbit that I’m planning to fill. We’ll see how it goes...**
> 
> **Comments are always appreciated!**


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